Sunday, October 30, 2011

Drummer has been with us now for a month: three and a half months old. He is gaining about five pounds a week, and is now 53 pounds. His routine is to play, take a walk and hopefully find another dog to chase, then sleep. His digestive system is still developing, and he is getting known for his particularly pungent farts. In my therapy group one member said it was so bad it stung his eyes. He's a very mellow guy, affable with kids and other dogs; and assumes everyone will want to pet him (especially on his tummy). He is a smart boy: he has learned to ring a bell hanging from the doorknob when we wants to go out.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

On Drummer's first full weekend with us he has mastered stairs! We have three levels, and I was getting a sore shoulder from picking him up every time we went up to the bedrooms, or down to the family room. By Sunday, a week from when we picked him up, he's crawling up and down with little difficulty. He wants to be wherever I am.

My first attempt to enclose him with a baby gate, while I ran to the store, didn't work. When I returned I found he'd pushed it down and was lying in the kitchen, watching out the sliding door for my return. Nothing chewed up or accidents in my absence.

Can you believe he's grown so much in a week I had to let out his collar, which had gotten too tight!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

The first few days Drummer was here I wondered what on earth I was thinking taking on a new puppy with Judy in California and only home every other weekend. I was particularly concerned how he would do with my clients, and in fact the first few days he was very busy and distracting during sessions. At night he got me up twice in the middle of every night, and he did a lot of whining over riding in the car, being put in a crate, getting out of my sight, and walking outside. Everything was scary and new to him.

But to his credit, he is adapting very quickly. He is essentially housebroken (if I watch him and anticipate his needs), and has only had two accidents in the house and one at the office. Right now he is sleeping under my chair -- the closer the better. He can be very busy with his toys, but generally stays close by; and after the first part of the week began to adapt to my routine. He goes into a crate at night, and is now only needing to get up once (about 3am). I found he was manageable at the office -- as long as he had enough exercise, which has meant three long walks a day. If I wear him out he'll sleep while I'm seeing clients. The hitch is that I'm also worn out! We are going to bed at 9pm, and getting up at 5:30am so there is time for his morning walk.

He aims to please and is working at mastering stairs. Yesterday he did, "Look Ma, no hands!" running up and down the first five steps of the staircase to show me how well he could do it. He was quite pleased with himself, but the next level of about a dozen steps, still seems too intimidating to him. Day by day he's getting heavier for me to carry up and down, and I'm suffering from a sore shoulder from the effort.

He is now riding in the car like a seasoned pro, and handling our daily walks with all their stimulation of cars, people and other dogs. He ran around with a small neighbor dog he will soon tower over, and he is now running ahead while on the leash rather than cowering around my ankles.

﻿﻿﻿ This is Billie Rose, Drummer's Mom. On July 19th, 2011 she had four puppies. Drummer has three sisters, and from the start "marched to his own drum". Judie described him as "mellow as he can be, taking everything in stride ... including being harrassed by his sisters."

I had put in an application for a pup, thinking we would get a new dog in the Spring of 2012. We applied early knowing there was a waiting list. We had lost our beloved Fraser (an Irish Wolfhound/Scottish Deerhound) of bone cancer last March.

Then the original buyers for Drummer fell through due to their family circumstances, and I was alerted to Drummer's availability. Judie knew of us because of Fraser, and believed we would be the best fit for Drummer.

At three weeks Drummer was 6.74 pounds. By five weeks his weight had almost doubled.

We pick up our new puppy from Laloba Ranch in Steamboat Springs from the Irish Wolfhound breeder, Judie Day.

She provides us with what she calls the "Puppy Book", which is her careful compilation of facts on everything from the history of the breed to the care and feeding of these unique dogs. The Puppy Book is the size and thickness of a large city's phone directory.

Judie is known for breeding longevity into this big breed, adding as much as six or seven years to their lifespan. She has had Irish Wolfhounds that live as long as thirteen years.